Tyler grooming Crystal

We started out raising beef for our own needs and found ourselves expanding to accommodate requests for beef sales to family, friends, friends of friends, etc. Direct marketing of our beef provides us with a significantly higher level of income per animal produced than selling feeder calves to the local sale barn.

Our customers are looking for the health benefits of beef naturally finished on grass,without the use of hormones or antibiotics. This all natural product commands a higher price in the market.  It also fits well with our desire to pursue highly sustainable agriculture methods.  These are also less costly and labor intensive for us than feeding grain.

Tyler talks to the judge

Lowlines  consistently produce very tender and well marbled beef from an all forage diet, without any of the "special feeding" to produce or the "special cooking" warnings you commonly see with other forage based beef.  We would never have continued raising Lowlines if we had to convince our customers to "adjust their palates" to accept the grass-finished beef flavor or to provide them with meat tenderizers and special cooking instructions when they bought our beef.

We both work full time off the farm as well and managing our farm as efficiently as possible is crucial to our success.

Dakota talks to the judge

Rotational grazing allows us to naturally raise our cattle on forage alone on a small acreage and saves us time by reducing our day to day labor.  Instead of harvesting and taking feed to the cattle, we take the cattle to the feed.  In addition, we reap the benefit of on-going pasture improvement by the natural distribution of free fertilizer the cattle leave behind as they graze through a paddock.

Sharidon Farms ribbons and trophies...

Lowline cows calve easily unattended and the calves are vigorous, up and about immediately.  This is very important to us since we do work off the farm and are not always immediately at hand during calving. Unlike commonly related calving problems with traditional cattle we have not experienced any difficultieswith our full blood Lowline cattle.

Last Update: July 21, 2008